Bonsaify | Are You Developing a Good Dwarf Jade Trunk?
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- čas přidán 1. 03. 2024
- In this follow up video Eric revisits a Dwarf Jade (Portulacaria afra) that he cut back heavily a couple years ago.
First video on the older tree: • Bonsaify | Large Cut o...
Second Video: • Bonsaify | Dwarf Jade ...
Developing dwarf jade should be similar to developing other bonsai species. The trunk is the focus of the composition and the branching is the icing on top. Eric discusses three examples of adding more character to a trunk, trying to make it more gnarly!
00:00:30 Eric discusses why he did a trunk chop to the first tree. He's still not happy with the trunk because the trunk is not interesting enough.
00:01:30 Thinning some leaves so the structure is visible while discussing the ramification process.
00:02:00 - In cold climates be careful to avoid freezing with these plants.
00:02:35 - An example of a young dwarf jade with little work done.
00:04:00 - Do people need to understand what wild dwarf jade look like to make better bonsai with them?
00:04:30 - Eric shares an example of a slightly larger tree in a gallon can and does root work for nebari improvement, and thinning and cutback for trunk character.
00:07:30 With the rough root work done and the branching thinned we look at the structure. Eric decided to make some larger cuts to improve the trunk character.
00:08:30 - Moving on to a jade in a 3-gallon grow bag - the tree had similar work done last year and has been left to grow for the year. Eric discusses the differences among bark character on the trees and the growth regimen.
00:10:05 - Showing the character of the older trunk.
00:10:30 - panning to show the post-trimming and large remaining branch.
00:11:20 - Eric reiterates that taking the time to develop more character in the trunk will give you a more interesting tree later.
You can purchase dwarf jade starters on Bonsaify.com. Thanks for watching! - Jak na to + styl
I personally love to see experienced bonsai artists taking a liking to portulacaria, such an easy species to care for and propagate.
Me, looking at my 30+ dead portulacaria… “well heck”
The thing is that every good Japanese bonsai master would say. ; If you are afraid to cut the tree hard back then you'll never be able to get good quality tree ;.
Portalucaria prob one of the best beginner material someone can get into... so forgiving, teaches how to ramify with taper fast and turn around is lightning - you'll have a pretty well developed tree in just a couple years. Don't be afraid to cut, they bounce right back
That port is looking beautiful! I was waiting for this update video!
Great to see you working on a Mini Jade. Excellent!
I lived in Southern California for many years and I had a few I got from a neighbor that was remodeling their backyard. The older ones have tiny pink clusters of flowers. Now I get some frost days in April. Now you have me thinking of getting another one. Old large thick cuttings will root and have flowers.
I’ve tried them in the ground and I’m fairly confident they grow faster just constantly being up potted and given lots of wet/dry cycles. I have them potted in extremely fast drying mix and they get watered every day in the summer and grow like weeds
I do same with desert Rose's Adenium's I water them daily but i have mega free drained substrate and they grow like crazy .
Pretty cool, thanks for sharing!
I have an over 3foot dwarf jade with a huge base. It’s an incredible tree but it’s a succulent. I have never brought mine indoors and I live in Ojai where it does freeze and have had no issues. Always love your videos thank you
They are known to handle brief light freezes just fine -if it goes below freezing for many days in a row, or ever below 20f, I would protect the plant just in case.
VG perspective on trunk development… thank you.
Thank you for sharing information...❤
I've turned to dwarf jade because I live on the prairies and the air is super dry and because of cold temperatures, every plant growing in a pot, no matter how big, dies from the cold. -30 totally does them in, so my bonsai have to be indoors where our air is sooo dry.
There's some great examples of Portulacaria Bonsai on CZcams! The Bonsai Supply has a series with one and Wigert's (might have the name wrong) too. It can be done!
I grow mine in the higveld in South Africa, where they are from. Winters get to lows of 30 degrees. I have no issues keeping them out doors in the cold weather
Interesting. I wonder if there is significant genetic variation between the commonly found ones here in the US and the ones you have. We saw that some were damaged in light frost (at like 34F) while others were fine. But in the end, all ours drop leaves and look really sad in winter if we leave them out in the cold!
@@Bonsaify Would be interesting to know... We are at a elevation of 4500 ft, and the past week we have had nights and mornings of 35 degrees and below. and all my dwarf jades are doing just fine. That said, the temp down here vary alot. Winters are a minimum of 30 and a daily max of 80.. We dont get snow, and we dont have the cold all day long
Hopefully we get more PA content in the future, too 😀
Very good video! ❤
I will follow you.
Awesome! Thank you!
Interesting: thx.
Thanks.
I had a normal home depot Portulacaria afra in a 2" pot that I got 18 years ago and all my standard P. afra plants are cuttings from it. A few of my plants started getting this corky bark and some weird growths on the trunks and it turns out that they had flat mites. I let the infestation go controlled for awhile and then treated them with a Sulphur based insecticide. Made great corky bark like that but still was due to pests.
Wow, interesting. Thanks for the tip!
Do you grow your jade's in your 80% perlite 20 % cocco Choir ?
Have you tried that substrate on anything already?
Tried it a few days ago for the first time (on my maple, oak and chestnut trees), so am wondering how it is going to turn out
@@djordjevolarevic3872 I have in the past I think the perlite I used was too large.
Eric once messaged me and said 3mm -5mm is best if I remember right.
I'm going to try again this year.
@@lovegardeningplants thank you for the reply, I've used finer grain, so it should be fine then
Do you use the same perlite and coconut coir soil mix as you do for your other trees for the early stages of the portulacarias?
Yes.
Good evening,
What scissors do you recommend for ports? I’ve been reading that stainless steel are best for them.
Don't really have an opinion on that. Stainless is great, but you just need a scissor with a fine tip. I've used this pair and have no complaints: amzn.to/4d8ZmtX
Interesting video. I have a couple of ports I’m growing from cuttings. They are 1,5 years old. I would like a bit larger tree in the end (60-80 cm). Do I let them grow then ? They are very healthy and I like them very much.
let it grow = larger trunk and growth. Cut it back = smaller growth and more fine branching
@@Bonsaify that is what I thought too. Thank you 🙏
Just got my first few a week or so ago
Bonjour vidéo intéressante je suis dans le Sud de la France et je cultive aussi du jade.
Quel substrat tu utilise car il ma l'air très léger ?
Dans l'attente d'un retour de ta part je te souhaite un bon dimanche.
Cordialement Jérôme.
70% Perlite, 15% Coco, 15% Fir Bark for development. I use APL mixes for trees in bonsai pots. But they will grow in almost anything.
@@Bonsaify Merci beaucoup pour votre retour à bientôt 👍
As ever nice work ERIC. Though I am not an expert I always see jade plants as not really being bonsai. Please feel free to correct me?
The fact that it’s called Dwarf Jade is a little misleading. It’s not actually a jade plant. Actual jade is not really considered a good subject for Bonsai. It scientific name is Portulacaria afra and is a very good subject for bonsai. Which is why people love it so much. It’s also considered legit Bonsai by most of the bonsai people I know. There was also one exhibited at the nationals last year.
Are you using the same bonsai mix as you would for your other trees?
70% Perlite, 15% Coco, 15% Fir Bark for development. I use APL mixes for trees in bonsai pots.
Mantap👍👍👍
What soil mix are you using?
70% perlite / 30% coco coir.
I've been told that ports go dormant around 60F and can turn to mush when exposed to Temps under 40F... Ports don't like to have roots pruned AND branches cut back at the same time... Doing that here in New England is a recipe for a dead plant
Are you leaving them dry for a little bit after root pruning or watering them right away. I've never encountered that issue and I wonder if it's an issue with aftercare
Depends on how much light and heat they're getting. If growing vigorously outside in mid-summer sun, you can prune roots and branches together with no problem.
I imagine the same is true if you've got them indoors under good grow lights. I'm about to test this.
However, in the past, I've pruned & repotted ports in early spring that had spent the winter in a windowsill with no supplemental light, and that indeed was a bad idea. I managed to kill one. Others dropped all their leaves and went comatose for months (though eventually recovered).
@strongbird3499 I've had ports die even in the summer after major root pruning and trimming...So now, I only do 1 at a time...
What terracotta pot is that?
Japanese Terra cotta - www.bonsaioutlet.com/pots/unglazed-bonsai-pots/japanese-tokoname-training-grow-pot/
Where to buy a real bonsái in DC USA?
Ha. I'm planning a video on "Real Bonsai". But I would say consider getting into the bonsai community. I don't know much about DC, but there are conventions this year that are great places to get stuff:
May in St. Louis - bonsai-central.com/
October in Oakland, CA - Pacificbonsaiexpo.org